I do not normally make predictions for the new year, and I am not making them now. However, I’m sharing some thoughts about what 2025 may look like for local news based on the recent events (and facts) in New Zealand journalism and media.

In December, the New Zealand government put the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill on hold. The legislation would mandate tech companies to pay for news companies’ content when they use it in their services.

The government indicated it is following tightening laws in Australia with an interest and may accommodate its laws accordingly. Australia plans to tax tech companies if they don’t pay news organisations for their content.

In the absence of any tech regulation, regional, local, and community news media in New Zealand continue to fight for viability. Recently, leadership at one of the largest news publishers, NZME, said the company is considering closing 14 community newspapers, and many others have already ceased to exist.

In his predictions for 2025, Jacob L. Nelson writes that journalists must start correcting the public’s misunderstandings about journalism and its funding, and begin talking openly about how “their news gets paid for.” This is already happening, perhaps in reverse order.

In 2024, smaller digital news outlets and current affairs magazines sent SOS calls to their readers to donate money or subscribe. For some, the call for action worked. For example, New Zealand Geographic recently celebrated an increase in its subscriptions to 10,000 with the headline: “You did it! We did it! Everyone did it!”

It noted that “to make a simple call for help, and to receive the flood of support from readers willing to stake us with their hard-earned cash, is really humbling.”

Digital news outlet The Spinoff, celebrating its 10th birthday this year, also put an SOS call to its readers in November. In a shocking statistic, it showed that while it had an audience of 400,000, only 2% of its audience donated or paid membership for it. It published an open letter, asking its readers to donate. How well the campaign is working remains to be seen.

When compared to 46 countries included in the annual Reuters Digital News Report, New Zealand is one of the countries with the highest number of people paying for news. The JMAD 2024 Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand survey shows 24% of New Zealanders have paid to access online news content. The figure is third highest after Norway and Sweden.

The survey showed that almost half of the money was paid for one news outlet: 47% of people had paid for the New Zealand Herald subscription, 11% to the Post (owned by Stuff), and 11% also had paid for The Spinoff.

In other moves, local news outlets in our country have sought refuge in Substack and are experimenting with AI. A digital news outlet, Crux, which publishes news in South Island, was forced to cut jobs and go into hibernation until it secured more subscriptions and moved to Substack. Many others will follow its example.

The Waikato Times is also experimenting with AI tools. These experimentations by regional and local media will most certainly grow in the new year. With all the AI hype and excitement, the words of one local publisher about AI stayed with me: “It helps, but it is not a panacea.”

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